title: Coincident tick infestations in the nostrils of wild chimpanzees and a human in Uganda.
abstract: Ticks in the nostrils of humans visiting equatorial African forests have been reported sporadically for decades, but their taxonomy and natural history have remained obscure. We report human infestation with a nostril tick in Kibale National Park, Uganda, coincident with infestation of chimpanzees in the same location with nostril ticks, as shown by high-resolution digital photography. The human-derived nostril tick was identified morphologically and genetically as a nymph of the genus Amblyomma, but the mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA or the nuclear intergenic transcribed spacer 2 DNA sequences of the specimen were not represented in GenBank. These ticks may represent a previously uncharacterized species that is adapted to infesting chimpanzee nostrils as a defense against grooming. Ticks that feed upon apes and humans may facilitate cross-species transmission of pathogens, and the risk of exposure is likely elevated for persons who frequent ape habitats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; Freelance Nature Photographer, Merchantville, New Jersey; Freelance Nature Photographer, Helena Montana; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts; Makerere University Biological Field Station, Fort Portal, Uganda; Department of Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hamer
authors.forename: Andrew B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Bernard
authors.forename: Ronan M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.forename: Jessica A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hartel
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Wrangham
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Otali
authors.forename: Tony L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Goldberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D021901:DNA, Intergenic / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009666:Nose / Q000469:parasitology*; D009758:Nymph / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000469:parasitology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013987:Ticks / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; C075526:RNA, ribosomal, 12S